WotW Awards Season 6: Best Death – Preliminary Round

One of the things Game of Thrones is best known for is its tendency to mercilessly kill off people, sending long-running and beloved characters to the chopping block. Or the wildfire, or the rope, or much worse things. Today we’re celebrating the best of season 6’s death scenes, and choosing our favorites from a pool of initial nominees suggested by Watchers on the Wall readers.

You can choose whatever criteria you like in voting- whether the death scene touched, thrilled, terrified, or satisfied you, it’s your call.

The standard rules:Select up to FIVE nominees from the poll. You can choose fewer if you like, but you cannot choose more than 5.

At the end of 72 hours (Monday 8/29/16 at 12PM EDT), whichever five death scenes have the most votes will continue on to the finals. The results of the poll will be revealed when it’s time to choose the winner of Best Death in a couple weeks.

1. Hodor holds the door
2. Lancel, High Sparrow, Margaery, Loras and everyone else goes up in green flames at the sept
3. The execution of the Night’s Watch mutineers (Alliser Thorne, Bowen Marsh, Othell Yarwyck and Olly)
4. Arya adds the Waif to the Hall of Faces
5. Balon Greyjoy is thrown from the rope bridge by his brother.

– Balon Greyjoy is thrown from the rope bridge by his brother: The previous dialogue certainly helped.– Hodor holds the door: Do I need an explanation?– The execution of the Night’s Watch mutineers (Alliser Thorne, Bowen Marsh, Othell Yarwyck and Olly): As much as fans hated them, I couldn’t help but feel pity.– Roose Bolton is killed by his own son Ramsay: It was expected, yet it caught me completely off guard.– The Three-Eyed Raven falls to the Night King: The SFX were impressive.

This was hard – especially given that I saw deaths that I hadn’t thought of myself when making my nominations previously. In the end I went for the following five:

Hodor – This was the death that got the biggest emotional reaction from me in season six. I was in bits watching the death of such a loyal, beloved character. Hodor is one of the few characters in which you can see only good. His death had a huge impact for me, and I still struggle to re-watch it.

Ramsay – I can’t say that I was at all upset at his death. Ultimately, he got what he deserved. Karma is a dish best served with hounds (or as pie: see below). After years of torturing Theon, the rape and torture of Sansa, the murder of a newborn child, killing Rickon at the Battle of the Bastards…………I think it is safe to say that the only downside of his death is that we will no longer get to see Iwan Rheon’s amazing performance in the role.

Tommen – I picked him over those that died in the Sept of Baelor, because there is a greater tragedy for me to the death of Tommen when weighed against those that died in the explosion. Cersei wanted to be rid of her enemies, and part of that was because she wants to protect her son from those that would take him from her (like Margaery and the High Sparrow). And as revenge consumes her more than love in the moment, as she visits Septa Unella, Cersei herself plays a huge part in bringing about the completion of Maggy the Frog’s prophecy – something she was trying to prevent by ridding herself of enemies. Ultimately, Cersei was not there for Tommen in his moment of greatest need – and that is why he is dead.

Walder Frey – Again, as was the case with Ramsay this was very much a karmic death. I have to say, I was as revolted as Jaime when Walder Frey compared their actions. Jaime killed Aerys to stop him from wiping out the entire population of King’s Landing; Walder Frey had Robb killed out of pettiness, pride and ambition. And I am happy that it was a Stark that got to kill him. Wyman Manderly may say that Jon avenged the Red Wedding, but personally I think it was a Team Stark effort – Jon fighting on the battlefield, Sansa bringing in the Vale Knights to aid the Stark Army, and Arya at the dinner table.

Night’s Watch Mutineers – Ever since their early clashes in the training yard, Alliser Thorne and Jon Snow have been on a collision course that was probably only going to end with one of them killing the other. I’m not sure when it became inevitable, but at some point it did. And in true Game of Thrones style, they effectively killed each other. This death scene was unique (I think) in that it was the murder victim that carried out the execution. It was a powerful sequence to watch, and you can see Jon’s doubts, which end as he recalls the feeling of the knives. There is also a sense of tragedy to it; as much as I hated Thorne, it was clear that he was passionate about the Night’s Watch (though he had a very different view to Jon on how the Watch should proceed) and Olly, for all we criticize him, was ultimately a child. And his arc – that of a child who has seen too much and is pushed on to vengeance and then to murder as a result – isn’t that far off part of Arya’s; we just judge him more because while Arya killed the likes of Walder Frey and Meryn Trant, Olly killed Ygritte and Jon.

Hodor, the sept, Tommen and the mutineers were easy. After that it got hard but I picked Grey Worm cuz he’s awesome. Not Walder Frey, the pies were gratuitous fan service and Arya is going down a very bad path.

OK…this was difficult because S6 had a LOT of great death scenes. But reading through the comments, I can only say that I must be one mean bitch! Hodor’s death didn’t make my cut because we didn’t actually see the death; there….I said it! Must have been horrible for him, but it wasn’t really to me.

My most satisfying deaths were Ramsey, Frey and the NW Mutineers.
The most surprisingly awesome to me was Grey Worm taking out double Masters. Good to see Grey Worm taking pride in his work.
The worst to see, for me, was WunWun. I knew he was going to die, but that arrow through the eyeball got me. It added to my satisfaction in Ramsey’s death by dogs.

But then there’s the most revealing death of Arthur Dayne by Ned…the whole story of Howland killing Dayne was bullshit….

And then there’s the wildfire…again, you knew it was coming, but those special effects were amazing!

And then there’s Balon over the bridge…mystery solved about “how” he died.

I’m sure that Hodor’s death will be the sentimental favorite, but I didn’t vote for it. Though I was moved by his loss, I didn’t care much for how the scene was executed, cinematographically. I thought the chase leading up to it was kind of cheesy, with the wights scurrying along the ceiling. And the crosscut editing between young Hodor’s fit and contemporary Hodor’s final act of valor kind of left me scratching my head about what exactly Bran had done to him.

It’s a problem I often have with action sequences that sacrifice clarity of narrative to making a scene more kinetic. If I need an explanation afterwards about what exactly just happened, to/by whom, it dilutes the dramatic power of a scene for me. Judging by the popularity of action movies in which I find it visually difficult to tell who killed whom in many fight scenes, I’m in a very small minority here. But to me, confusion of visual information disrupts narrative flow and takes me out of the story while I say to myself, ‘Wait…whut???’

Combining the mass deaths into one option makes this a lot easier to pick my top 5, at least for me.

Hodor holding the door– Because of course.

Ramsay being fed to his own dogs – Managed to be poetically fitting, incredibly satisfying and cathartic, but also disturbing at the same time. The dialogue with Sansa, and her silent reaction to his being mauled, was excellent.

Tommen’s suicide – Really sad and tragic. I mostly picked this though because of the visual storytelling involved. Lingering in the destruction for a while before Tommen reneters the frame was brilliant.

Sept explosion – What I thought was so impressive about this scene was the way it gave almost every character who died (except Kevan I guess) a moment to make their death feel unique from the others. Margaery’s final moments in particular were great, the perfect end for that character.

Hanging of mutineers – Really, really liked this scene on rewatch. Alliser has a great speech before going out. And the silent confrontation between Jon and Olly was sad and featured some beautiful acting on Kit’s part. It was also very effectively disturbing to see a child hanged from the neck, that last image of him all purple in the face haunted me. It wasn’t the most surprising death scene here but it was very well done, very powerful and important to explaining Jon’s abandonment of the Watch.

Summer Islander in the City:
This should basically be called the 2nd best death. If Hold the Door doesn’t get 95%+, something is wrong with you people.

Lol. I concur totally. Not even close in my book. All the other top deaths (besides Tommen) were mostly done out of revenge. Hodor sacrificed his life. To me his was the most tragic and unlike another poster I thought his death scene was EPIC!

Dee Stark:
I passed the mutineers one quite fast, I would have voted for that one! Damn!

That one went in my second choices box bc five were only allowed. There were too many good ones. I went with 1. Hodor, 2. Sept (we lost Marg sad face) 3. Arya (Frey had it coming for too long) 4. Ramsey (see above explanation) and finally Rickon (he didn’t deserve to go like that)!!

Agreed here. And it wasn’t a ‘death’ scene as such, whereas some others that showed an acted death, were. This is not to take away from the impact of Hodor’s (implied) death, which was so very powerful (and causing tearing up) as part of a longer scene and of course the much longer running story of this person and his – well, betrayal and appropriation – by Bran.

Firannion:
I’m sure that Hodor’s death will be the sentimental favorite, but I didn’t vote for it. Though I was moved by his loss, I didn’t care much for how the scene was executed, cinematographically. I thought the chase leading up to it was kind of cheesy, with the wights scurrying along the ceiling. And the crosscut editing between young Hodor’s fit and contemporary Hodor’s final act of valor kind of left me scratching my head about what exactly Bran had done to him.

It’s a problem I often have with action sequences that sacrifice clarity of narrative to making a scene more kinetic. If I need an explanation afterwards about what exactly just happened, to/by whom, it dilutes the dramatic power of a scene for me. Judging by the popularity of action movies in which I find it visually difficult to tell who killed whom in many fight scenes, I’m in a very small minority here. But to me, confusion of visual information disrupts narrative flow and takes me out of the story while I say to myself, ‘Wait…whut???’

I said to myself ‘Wait…whut???’ after reading everything you just wrote.

I think it comes to a question of what ‘best death scene’ means. Best in terms of writing, direction, acting, cinematography? Or ‘best’ in terms of ‘it made me feel good’ or ‘it made me weep’?
OK, I’m quibbling and can see strengths on both/all sides …

So a ‘final’ scene (at least most of us hope so) rather than a ‘death’ scene?

Stannis didn’t have a literal death scene either, but he went out in character, for sure.

I kind of wish there were a ‘Best Last Words’ subcategory. Owen Teale nailed that for me. Thorne may have been a bitter, bullying jerk, but he was a bitter, bullying jerk with dignity and authenticity.

Firannion: I kind of wish there were a ‘Best Last Words’ subcategory. Owen Teale nailed that for me. Thorne may have been a bitter, bullying jerk, but he was a bitter, bullying jerk with dignity and authenticity.

So many ‘good’ ones. And laughably stupid ones (hi Dorne). If only Hotah got to use his wife, even once.

1. Hodor. Because Hodor, and Kristian Nairn. The only thing I found weird about the result of his death was that Bran didn’t seem to really care. Mind you, his brain is addled with so much info, perhaps he’ll remember his best friend and Summer and Raven later.

2. Balon performs a lovely triple twist, pike position with rather rough landing. Mostly because it’s our intro to Euron ‘I am the storm’, and was visually a great scene.

3. Grey Worm taking a bit off the top. Not only great because of the rather ‘Holy crap, did he just…..’, but also Tyrion’s calm words to the survivor of it.

4. Tommen. Some found it funny, but then some people are psychopaths. I thought the silence was deafening. Poor kid was done.

5. Wun Wun. Jon’s hand reaching out.

I would have picked Lem et al simply for Rory’s brilliant acting and boot-theiving, but oh well. 🙂

This one goes to Hodor, not even because of the circumstances under which Hodor died, but because of how it came to happen in the first place and how utterly heartbreaking it was to watch that time-traveling, stable loop, mind-breaking experience of young Willis. Here is one character who literally never had even the slightest hint of a chance of making it through this alive, because if there had been, he would not be there in the first place. There is something utterly tragic about that.

Also, thanks GRRM for making every translator/subtitler working on your stuff suddenly go “oh fuuuuuu—”

Hodor: Best death this season.
Tommen’s suicide: Silent, very moving.
King’s Landing sept goes up in flames: Beautifully done.
Jon hangs the mutineers: I half expected him to pardon them. It was shocking that he didn’t.
Ramsay’s death: imo not up to par with the others, but still, he deserved it.

Disqualifying an option because we didn’t see the character at the point where their heart stopped beating seems kind of overly literal with the term “death scene.” Unless it is purposely ambiguous (like the Hound being left for dead), a scene where a character is in the process of dying or is about to die before we cut away from them counts as a death scene. We didn’t see Fredo Corrleone literally die in Godfather II, we just heard the gunshot. We didn’t technically see Ramsay die, or even Ned, but their deaths aren’t in doubt so those are considered death scenes. Hodor pushing back against a door as zombies are literally clawing at him from behind, with sad music to boot, is a death scene.

What I loved about Tommen’s suicide was how understated it was, how matter-of-fact. You can just see the poor kid thinking, ‘Okay, that’s it – nothing left for me, my wife is dead and my mother arranged it. I’m outta here.’ No tantrum, no being a drama prince, no wailing and stomping and kicking and flailing. Just despair and acceptance and a quiet fall into sweet oblivion. It was a bit of a heartbreaker for me, even though Tommen was such a passive, easily manipulated character. He never stood a chance, with Cersei as his Mom.

Firannion,
I couldn’t agree more. It was made all the more tragic thinking that it was the first (and last) decision he ever made without being manipulated / forced by someone else. His suicide was his one act of freedom, so to speak.

Smalljon’s death is one of the truly great combat moments of the entire series, not because of anything he does, rather, it’s because Tormund scores the most epic kill of the series: He tore the guy’s throat out with his teeth.

One more time: Tormund ripped out a man’s throat with his teeth. Alert Brienne of Fucking Fail that ‘Tore a Guy’s Throat Out with Your Teeth’ beats ‘Bit Guy’s Ear Off’. Period.

“I fought and I lost.” Hated Alliser Thorne, love his last words. Great scene.

Arya turns out the lights on The Waif: “Let’s play a game: Blind Fight to The Death.”

Waif was dead the minute she decided her own selfish need to sate her sadism was more important than getting the damn job done.

Ramsey goes to the dogs: Proof of one of the greatest villain lines of all time:

“How about I carve you up and feed you to your pooches, then we see how loyal a starving dog REALLY is!”

Hodor (heartbreaking) – I never felt much for him one way or another, but his death was heartbreaking nonetheless. I never thought they’d kill the gentle giant, and to have him die struggling to hold a damn door shut while wights clawed at his face and tore at his body was brutal to watch. I hope they never show him amongst the army of the dead. That would be cruel.

Smalljon Umber (satisfying) – Getting his throat ripped out and stabbed in the face by one of the hated Wildings was the least he deserved for betraying Rickon.

Walder Frey (super satisfying) – I only wish Arya had prolonged his death. Made him suffer the way she did with Meryn Trant. I also would’ve liked for Walder to witness the death of his sons, the way Cat watched Robb die.

Wun Wun (heartbreaking) – This one actually hurt me the most (along with Summer) this season. It’s many things: the fact that he was the last of the giants, watching him be pierced with spears and arrows like a trapped animal, seeing him weakened from injuries but still use the last of his strength to break down the WF gates (without him, Team Stark would be facing a prolonged siege), the fact that he couldn’t really communicate but still managed to make himself understood with grunts and few words, and his unwavering loyalty to Tormund and Jon. *sniff* I’ll miss you, Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun.

I decided to vote two, for two different reasons: by reading just the title of this award, the first death that came to my mind was Roose Bolton’s. Beats me why, I mean there have been so many much more iconic deaths this season. Hodor, Ramsay, or Walder Frey. Still I vote for Roose.
And then I voted for a second one, this one being the one that made me more sad in the long run: cursed young Tommen, first and last of his name. I mean, I was in tears when Hodor died, but I still feel sorry for Tommen.
I think I would have voted for Lancel or the Blackfish too, but didn’t see them on the list. Unless I read it too fast.

Firannion:
What I loved about Tommen’s suicide was how understated it was, how matter-of-fact. You can just see the poor kid thinking, ‘Okay, that’s it – nothing left for me, my wife is dead and my mother arranged it. I’m outta here.’No tantrum, no being a drama prince, no wailing and stomping and kicking and flailing. Just despair and acceptance and a quiet fall into sweet oblivion. It was a bit of a heartbreaker for me, even though Tommen was such a passive, easily manipulated character.He never stood a chance, with Cersei as his Mom.

Again a very difficult choice. Finally I decided to vote for the deaths which surprised me the most while, at the same time, seemed the most tragic: Hodor, the sept destroyed by wildfire, Wun-Wun, Walda and her child. I expected Osha and Rickon to die, Tommen’s death, extremely sad as it was, couldn’t touch me because I was feeling empty after Loras’ and Margaery’s death. About the villains, I couldn’t cheer at Walder’s or Ramsay’s death, I just watched them as justice, thinking at their victims. Because I always take into account the opportunity of choosing five nominees, I finally voted for the execution of the mutineers, a powerful scene.

Hodor, of course, because it moved me so much, because I’m still saddened by the thought of his whole life taking that course through absolutely no fault of his own; because Wylis, young Hodor, was a big, capable kid, correctly observing the small facts of life at Winterfell, learning how to survive. He could have been a great soldier. And because if Hodor didn’t live out his fate and hold that door, a whole aspect of the story goes untold. A big part of the “fantasy” of greenseeing that we’ve been so anxious to explore dies if Bran dies. So, as tragic as it was, it serves a purpose. HODOR

Tommen, for much the same reason as Hodor: tragic as it was, if Tommen did not die, a whole aspect of the story goes untold. Cersei doesn’t ascend the throne, Jaime isn’t left standing on the sidelines thinking, once again, about how much of a bitch she is, we are left to wonder for a whole year what he’s going to do about it and what she’s going to do while on that throne.

The Sept – spectacular scene, wonderful suspense, great acting, and that flying bell as the cherry on top. I thought right to the last second that Margaery would find a way out, but if we have to say farewell to a great number of players, that’s the way to do it.

Walder Frey and Ramsay: because of the number of times I’d posted my wish for revenge for the Red Wedding and the number of times I posted that Ramsay just had to go. Those two not only did nothing good in their lives, they mocked the thought of doing good and caused nothing but misery, hatred and insult with every breath they took. Great actors, good riddance to the characters.

Firannion: I thought the chase leading up to it was kind of cheesy, with the wights scurrying along the ceiling

I liked that scene of the wights on the ceiling. It was unexpected, yet seemed right for the situation. We’d seen them on foot, or jumping off cliffs, piling into a mindless muddle. Their being on the ceiling seemed exactly right, somehow. Their one goal is to get to the victim and kill it. If there is no more room for the chase on the ground, then the ceiling it is. I voted for that scene for VFX

Somebody upthread mentioned a “best kill” category. I kind of like that as a category, maybe for next year, or even if it’s not too late, this year. I would put Grey Worm and the masters, and Tormund and Greatjon. I might even throw Jon and the Mutineers in there. Maybe Dany and the Khals could have gone in there. We are not so much mourning the deaths that were caused, as celebrating the method and/or necessity. OMG how this show has changed me. I would never have thought I’d be typing such words, but as the song goes, “on with the, on with the SHOW.”

this is a really tough category. I mean.. how to pick only five??
but okay here we go..

-Hodor ( I mean..Hold the Door was one of the most biggest and emotional death scenes on TV of all time..you can’t argue how big this one was. *NEVER FORGET
– Lancel, High Sparrow, Margaery, Loras and everyone else goes up in green flames at the sept
– Ramsey
– Walder Frey
– Hanging of Traitors (by by Olly)

And i would also add Balon Greyjoy is thrown from the rope bridge by his brother.

Thronetender: I liked that scene of the wights on the ceiling. It was unexpected, yet seemed right for the situation. We’d seen them on foot, or jumping off cliffs, piling into a mindless muddle. Their being on the ceiling seemed exactly right, somehow. Their one goal is to get to the victim and kill it. If there is no more room for the chase on the ground, then the ceiling it is.I voted for that scene for VFX

Glad it worked for you, but it totally didn’t for me. I saw the sense in their being able to take a fatal leap off a cliff on command and then get up again, because they’re already dead anyway and can be revived an unlimited number of times until they fall to pieces. But why would being dead make them impervious to gravity, able to scurry along a ceiling like spiders? I guess our respective abilities to suspend disbelief all have different limits!